


Off on Their Own

by Grimmy88



Category: Left 4 Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Bonding, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hunters & Hunting, M/M, Team Bonding, Team as Family, skinning animals but I don't go into detail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 02:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30065013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grimmy88/pseuds/Grimmy88
Summary: One of my pieces for the L4D Zine, which can be found here:https://twitter.com/left4deadzine/status/1371219262514229251This piece is hypothetical - set long after the second group gets rescued. The military base falls and they escape to live on their own. They bond as a family, relying upon each other's skills and talents. After a time, their dynamics change... or maybe they can finally admit what they've always felt.Includes the Nellis ship and had to be kept at or under 3,000 words. Short and sweet!
Relationships: Ellis & Nick (Left 4 Dead), Ellis/Nick (Left 4 Dead)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Off on Their Own

“What d’you need me to do?” Nick asked, voice husked to a murmur. It was weighty, with a heat to it that made the cloud of his breath dance in front of his face before it dissipated upward. He was jutting his nose towards the thick bramble up ahead where they hoped to find some rabbits nesting.

Ellis turned his own nose in the same direction, though he had to sniffle before he could provide the other man with an answer. “I’ll whistle once I get far enough on the opposite side. When y’hear me just start zig-zaggin’ back an’ forth.” He motioned to show him how much ground he needed to cover. “Kick up branches or whatever’ta scare ‘em into runnin’ at me.”

His teammate smirked at him, though Ellis had a feeling it was aimed at the chatter in his teeth he’d had to work through to dictate the directions. “You gonna be able to make the shot with how hard you’re shaking?”

Luckily, the southerner had started walking before the question was finished so he was able to hide his pout. He only hoped it wasn’t so apparent how hard he was trembling with the distance he put between them. “Y’do your job an’ I’ll get one—first shot. Just watch.”

Nick laughed behind him and it carried over into his voice. “Sure. Go get ‘em, fireball.”

The mechanic smiled at the nickname and hiked his rifle up higher on his shoulder, determined to do just that. It’d be a challenge, for sure, what with his shudder and the heavy snow that that was floating down between the trees. It was the thick sort—the type they romanticized in Christmas movies. It floored him a bit, the way it quieted the world around them as it blanketed everything it fell upon, including the two hunters.

It had been enough to coat Nick’s dark hair in white since he’d forgone his hood for unimpeded vision. Ellis had thought to tease him about it, but there was something magnetic in seeing the way it clung to him that he hadn’t risked the older man brushing the snowflakes away.

Before the apocalypse, Ellis had lived in Savannah all his life. He’d traveled some with his friends, though those trips had always been to warm climates because that’s what they’d always preferred. Back then he’d been vehement about his hatred of the cold.

Now, well over a year after the initial infection, his mind hadn’t changed where freezing temperatures were concerned.

He’d just learned to tolerate them because he hadn’t had much choice in the matter.

After their rescue they’d been quick to learn why the survivors in Rayford had had their fill of the military. Nick had been right about them, too—not that they had been planning to put bullets in their heads right away—but that the possibility was there if the threat of their presence ended up outweighing their usefulness.

Ellis had reckoned there was something special about them, just like all the protagonists in the movies. Well, he’d been right about that since they’d all turned out to be carriers and that had meant their blood was coveted by the army’s researchers. He hadn’t exactly understood all the medical mumbo jumbo, he’d just known their isolation had made them feel like prisoners.

Now, the army might’ve thought they were only special because of their blood, but the mechanic knew differently. Him and his friends? They were the _real deal_. He’d called them the kings of the world and he’d meant it.

There wasn’t anything the apocalypse could throw at them that they couldn’t overcome as long as they were together.

And they’d proved just that once the outpost had been overrun.

They weren’t sure how many people made it out alive, but they’d known showing their faces to check would’ve made them targets just as much as the zombies. So, they’d gone off on their own again.

From there survival had been day to day, though they did a damn good job of staying alive _and_ uninjured. But that wasn’t always going to be enough and eventually they’d come to realize that. They had options but had settled on Rochelle and Coach’s argument to go north.

Those two had figured all the zombies were _technically_ alive, so going someplace with actual winters would help slow down the hordes. Freezing temperatures and a lack of food would make the infected sluggish, they’d explained to Ellis. If they were lucky hypothermia would kill them outright.

That had made sense to him, though he would’ve followed his friends no matter what choice they’d ended up making.

They’d traveled as they had before ‘rescue,’ only this time without specific goals. They’d taken what vehicles they could find, driven as far as they could, and had stocked up on supplies along the way. Sometimes they’d gotten unlucky and had to travel by foot and leave behind everything they’d found, but the moment they’d started to hit forested areas the roads had cleared for them. In these places they’d been able to find stores and homes that appeared to have been frozen in time in that when they’d been abandoned, they hadn’t been plundered after.

He and his team had settled in one of these areas where food, clothing, and hunting shops were abundant and only a short drive, or a manageable hike, away from the house they’d claimed as their own.

Over time the hunting supplies proved to be one of the best finds they could’ve made. Sure, for now they still had groceries they could scavenge, but eventually those would expire and go rancid. With that looming reality, Coach had made the executive decision that Ellis teach them all to hunt. And, well, he’d sure _tried_.

Thing was, he was the only one of them who had ever done it before—not to mention he was the only one who’d ever used a bow or crossbow. So, not only had he needed to teach them to track and kill but he’d had to do it with tools that usually needed years to master so that they could save their non-replenishable ammo for the migrating zombies that threatened them in the warmer months.

The mechanic hated that he’d had to be blunt with his friends, but it was pretty obvious early on that Coach was _not_ a hunter. Between his knee acting up and his lack of stealth, Ellis usually found himself alternating between the northerners.

They settled into roles because of that: Ellis as the hunter, Coach as the cook, and Nick and Ro as their scavengers. Of course, those roles weren’t exclusive, and they all filled in where needed, especially because they always went in pairs whenever they needed to leave the house. In the summer, they went out as a foursome to be extra safe.

The thing that surprised him more than anything, though, was that it was _Nick_ who ventured off into the woods with him most often. Whether it was to avoid boredom or keep him out of trouble, the city slicker ended up astounding them by becoming a decent outdoorsman. That wasn’t to say he did it without complaint, but he’d been a quick learner and had respected Ellis’ knowledge enough not to question it.

And because of that—no matter how much he adored Rochelle—Ellis was secretly ecstatic to see the conman gearing up to spend a day with him in the forest.

_Especially_ when it was cold because that was the one thing that Nick never complained about. Having grown up with heavy winters, it was an easy thing for him to deal with even when Ellis thought he would shiver right through his seventeen layers.

He worried he’d do it now and he wondered if it would’ve been smart to take the job that kept him moving. He was sure Nick could make the shot and all since he needed to use a hunting rifle for rabbits, but since the challenge had been issued there wasn’t a thing he could do but rise to it.

Besides, a big part of him wanted to see that easy smirk when he did.

“Alright,” he muttered to himself, stabilizing his mind the same way he did with his body by lowering onto one knee. He put his fingers to his mouth and blew, watching as his friend immediately began to follow his instructions in the distance.

He readied his scope. “Sorry, lil’ guys.”

Rochelle and Coach were outside when they came back. They were checking the perimeter lines, over which he and his partner had to step.

The reporter saw them first and laughed in a delighted, sisterly way at the color staining her youngest teammate’s face. “Tell me you caught something to make up for the frostbite.”

“He did,” Nick affirmed, holding up the two rabbits he had been carrying at his side. Ellis had his own pair to display. “First shot every time, just like he said.” There was an assured note to his voice, like he hadn’t been expecting anything less.

“Good work, son,” Coach congratulated.

“Yeah, well…” Ellis felt warmed by their praise which made him glad his skin was already pink. “Didn’t wanna waste any ammo, y’know?”

“Are we eating them tonight?” Rochelle asked. “Never had rabbit before.” It was a valid question since they had plenty of venison and scavenged supplies left.

Their cook inclined his head and considered for a few seconds. Then he shrugged, letting that speak his ‘why not’ loud and clear.

Ellis tried to smirk at Ro, but he was pretty sure his cheeks were frozen. “You asked; that mean y’wanna help skin ‘em?”

She gave him a look that made it _very_ clear how little she wanted to do that. It wasn’t that she hadn’t done it already and wouldn’t again, but if she could avoid the smell and sight of it, she would. Nick usually wasn’t much different, but now he urged his partner on with a probing elbow. He didn’t say anything, just led the way to the garden shack they’d repurposed to house their catches.

At the moment there was nothing inside but their tools, which they grabbed so they could get to work. The faster they moved the faster they’d get back into the warmth of the house.

Nick needed to be guided in this, too, though he did well in following his friend’s example…even if his face was locked in a disgusted scowl. It wasn’t a permanent thing, though, because at one point he caught Ellis’ expression and something about it made his thin lips upturn involuntarily.

“What?”

“Nothin’,” the younger man tried, shrugging a shoulder. It brushed against his fellow hunter’s since he’d stepped over to help him cut away and dispose of the second rabbit’s organs without piercing them.

“Bullshit,” Nick chuffed, breath puffing against one of the southerner’s frozen cheeks.

“Just laughin’ at how happy y’look.”

“Oh, yeah; time of my life right here.”

Ellis found that amusing enough that his laughter stuttered into a snort, though it quickly petered out due to the overwhelming chatter in his teeth.

His teammate chuckled. “You, too. This has gotta rank right up there for you: freezing your ass off while you’re elbow deep in animal guts.”

He certainly wasn’t bloody up _that_ far, not from a little rabbit, but he kept the good humor going anyway. “Cold puts a bit’uv’a damper on it but I’m havin’ fun.”

“Seriously?”

“’Course. I always have fun when we go huntin’, don’tchyou?” He finished cutting what needed to be and held out everything that was disposable.

Nick cupped his hands to accept the slimy parts, immediately dumping them into a bucket placed beside their worktable for just such things. “Right. It’s gotta be a _blast_ listening to me complain all day.”

The shorter man shot him a grin. “Y’aint so bad anymore.” He placed one of his palms on the table so he could rotate and meet gray eyes. “Though I gotta be honest—back at the start’a this I never would’a guessed Mr. Fancy-Pants would be skinnin’ rabbits with me one day.”

“Pft. You think _you’re_ surprised?” The conman shifted his weight between his boots. “Hunting and scavenging and worst of all _pulling my weight_?” He scoffed with a deprecating lilt to his smirk.

Ellis knew he was joking to keep the mood light, but something about the way he did it by dismissing all his progress didn’t sit right with him. Maybe Nick didn’t want anybody focusing too much on his growth and effort—though that didn’t make a lick of sense seeing how vain the older man usually was. But… well, maybe people being _grateful_ for his presence and caring about him over the past year was something he’d acknowledged without having come to terms with yet.

The southerner himself was _very_ glad he was around, and he was the type of person to let his friends know how much they meant to him. A good part of that was because his mouth moved faster than his brain… He just hoped for once it would be tactful because he didn’t need Nick to know _exactly_ how much he meant.

“Naw, that’s the stuff I ain’t surprised about at all,” Ellis told him.

“No?” His partner’s voice had lowered, as if he didn’t want to raise it now that they were treading into new, serious territory.

“Nope.” The mechanic looked back down to his work, wanting to hide his face now that it felt as though something was trying to dethaw him from the chest out. “Think outta all the times I went down you were pickin’ me up the most outta everybody—no matter how annoyin’ y’said I was.”

“You were the best shot,” Nick dismissed, but the smirk Ellis could see out of his peripheral made it clear that wasn’t the reason.

“Pretty sure y’had Ro on your back at one point. An’ when Coach’s knee was actin’ up y’had his arm over your shoulders.”

“Sounds made up.”

The shorter survivor chuckled. “Man, who’re y’actin’ all hard for? Ain’t nobody’ta impress out here.”

“There isn’t?”

Ellis looked to him again and wished he hadn’t because there was an expression on Nick’s face he hadn’t seen before. There was a softness to it, and sure, he’d seen him soften up and laugh around them a ton by now, but this was different. It felt to him like the moments in his past life when he’d held or cradled things that were smaller and so much more delicate than him. He’d had to put so much tenderness and care beneath his callused, mechanic’s hands in those instances. It felt like he had to be very much the same way with his words now and he found them catching in his throat because of that, terrified as he was of fracturing this warmly charged moment.

Nick possessed the ability to navigate it, apparently, because he took pity on his teammate. “You know what I think? Think the truth is we’d be dead without _you_.”

The younger man shook his head on instinct and then cleared his throat to explain the impulse. “You guys would’a looked out for each other. An’ y’would’uv figured out the huntin’…besides we don’t even need it right now ‘cause all’uv the food we scavenged ain’t gonna expire for another year or two.”

The ex-con laughed. “And you’re calling _me_ out?”

Ellis grinned, watching the way the older man shook his head. Memorizing the way his mirth creased his face. When it quieted, he felt his own smile falter and once that tender look returned, he could only imagine he resembled a deer in headlights. Oddly enough, his mouth found that a good time to do what it did best.

“Nick,” he blurted. “What’re we doin’?”

Those gray eyes drifted down and stopped on his mouth before meeting his stupefied gaze again. “…I was gonna kiss you.”

“Oh!” Ellis almost exclaimed, heartbeat in his ears and voice far too loud in the little space because of it. “Okay.”

That snapped the tension between them, allowing all the pressure beneath the conversation to burst out in yet another cacophony of laughter. They did it together, so loud and hard it was almost painful. It was that nice kind of pain, though. A kind of pain worth the pulled muscles and aching abdominals.

When they collected themselves, it was still too difficult to keep the grins off their faces. Ellis liked that, though. He liked Nick leaning in and kissing him for the first time with their lips curved and slipping because of the little chuckles they couldn’t contain.

They parted with the same amusement, leaning into each other’s space where their shared breath was visible between them. Well, at least until the older survivor spotted something that made him straighten up.

“Okay, that was a little fucked.”

The southerner felt his brows furrow in time with the whiplashed confusion that shot through him.

“Not you,” Nick explained, raising one of his red palms and inspecting it. “Real romantic: kissing you with my hands covered in rabbit guts.”

Ellis laughed yet again. “You’re lucky I’m me, then.” Because he was probably the only person who _could_ find this moment as charming as he did. “Besides, think I’ve seen you covered in much worse.”


End file.
